Isaiah 2:1-5 (Gafney Translation)
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz envisioned about Judah and Jerusalem:
And it will be in coming days,
the mountain of God’s home
shall be higher of the mountains,
and shall be elevated beyond the hills,
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
“Let us go and ascend the mountain of the Holy One of Sinai,
to the home of the God of Jacob [of the line of Rebekah];
that God may teach us God’s ways,
and that we may walk in God’s paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction
and the word of the Holy One from Jerusalem.
God shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide justly for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
O house of Jacob [line of Rebekah]
come, let us walk
in the light of the Holy One of Old!
John 1: 1-5 (Gafney Translation) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was with God in the beginning. Everything came into being through the Word, and without the Word not one thing came into being that came into being. What has come into being in the Word was life and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the bleakness, and the bleakness did not overtake it.
Isaiah’s prophetic vision certainly resonates for us in this time and season. Given the current state of our world—with nations against nations, with the possibility of wars, with domestic and international strife, with political polarization with division even in the church—we anxiously long for a time of peace and justice in the world.
Isaiah invites us anew to consider God’s instruction and to walk in the light of the Holy One of Old. Walking in the light means renouncing the conduct that undermines and leads to division. Walking in the light will ultimately allow us to “lay down our sword and shield….to study war no more.” Walking in the light will mean we must remember God’s ways.
Gafney’s translation of this passage reminds us that Isaiah’s invitation to walk in the light is addressed to a broad audience as she adds “the line of Rebekah” to references to Jacob. The mention of Rebekah—a somewhat hidden figure in the Israelite story—forces us to recall her important role in Israel’s destiny. Scholar Carol Meyers notes that traditional biblical interpretation focuses on the patriarchs and does not acknowledge the strong female characters in the Genesis family stories. In an earlier work, Womanist Midrash, Gafney describes Rebekah as “one of the most dominant matriarchs in the Israelite story.” Rebekah’s story demonstrates her boldness in using her agency in responding to the will of God.
Excavating Rebekah’s story brings to mind another bold hidden figure, Fannie Lou Hamer, whose life and legacy have recently been celebrated.* Her story has been obscured because many of the historical narratives of the civil rights movement highlight the activities of male leaders, notwithstanding the significant roles of women. The granddaughter of enslaved persons born in rural Mississippi, Fannie Lou’s life and calling were transformed when she attended a mass meeting on voting rights at her local Baptist church. She devoted the rest of her life to the cause of social justice. Guided by her faith, she often said that she didn’t mind her light shining.
Hamer understood her need to draw upon the incarnate Light, the Word, to repel the “bleakness” indicated in John’s Gospel. Indeed, Fannie Lou’s favorite song , one that became her mantra was: “This little light of mine I’m going to let it shine; let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”
May this season of Epiphany propel us to walk in the light of the Holy One so that our lights —as a witness to the Light—can illuminate bleak places.
Reverend Lynn Holmes serves as an associate in ministry at First Baptist Church, Wilmington Street, in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is a Visiting Professor of the Practice at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
*Biography: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/676267/until-i-am-free-by-keisha-n-blain/
*PBS Documentary: https://www.fannielouhamersamerica.com
Fannie Lou Hamer icon by Kelly Latimore
This blog series made possible in part by a gift from Myers Park Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC.